Evil Religion (2015-03-30)
In terms of damage to civilization, religion even trumps ideology. To pick just one example, consider wars. Even more senseless wars have been fought over differing religious beliefs than over ideological differences. People are quite willing to kill each other over disagreements about their specific superstitions—often even a tiny distinction between variations of a fundamentally shared superstition. (For example, Catholics and Protestants or Sunnis and Shiites.)
Artists and scientists have always been victimized by religious intolerance. Who consistently attacks with censorship and persecution our freedom of expression, that most basic of human rights and cornerstone of civilization? Who branded Galileo deserving to be burned at the stake for publishing his scientific findings? Who put a contract on the life of Salman Rushdie for publishing an irreverent novel?
If there were any point to it, what I’d pray for is the end of religious belief.
